The first American player in any team sport that I can remember to wear the number "00" was Jim Otto, who was a center with the Oakland Raiders from 1960-1974.

Otto and the Raiders were part of the newly established gridiron American Football League (AFL) that was trying to compete against the NFL during the 1960s.

Otto, who initially wore number 50, said that his friends used to call him "Ott", which sounded like "aught", which basically means nothing, or zero.

Raiders equipment manager Frank Hinek suggested that Otto wear the number "0", or "aught", as his jersey number. But at the time there was a player with the Washington Redskins named Johnny Olszewski who wore the number "0" (they called him "Johnny O") and so they didn't want to appear as copying him.

It was then suggested that Otto wear "00", or "aught-0", to stand for "Otto".
Jim's initial response was, "It seems kind of wierd", but he was eventually persuaded to give it a try as it was felt it would help promote the league.

So Otto wore number 50 for the first few games of the 1960 season until the Raiders received permission from league commissioner Joe Foss that he could wear 00. Foss thought it was a great idea.

Jim Otto .............. Ken Burrough

Ken Burrough was the second player after Otto to wear the number 00. A rookie in 1971, he was a standout wide receiver with the Houston Oilers throughout the 1970s.

Francesco Coco wears 77 for birthyear, other examples of such include Nicola Ventola 79, Valon Behrami 85 and Nirvaan Dhanrajh 85 (i loved the idea, so that my number too).

As for GK with number 10 i also did that, was playing outside on a team and long before Rooney with his Joga Bonito business, got mad beacue team was playing crap so figured it would be more in the goal, chased out keeper and played in there with the number 10, was a blast!

Bati-gol didn't actually put a plus sign on his jersey though, he just wore 18 because 1+8= 9. I did the same thing, as when I joined my current team my old number 10 was taken, so I took 19 because 1+9=10.

Can't address the NBA, but in the NFL, players are limited to certain numbers based on the position they play, so you're only half right. This is a recent (last 25 years or so) rule change.

IIRC,
quarterbacks can use only numbers 1 - 19
wide receivers and tight ends: 80-89
tailbacks, fullbacks and secondary: 20-49
offensive and defensive linemen and linebackers: 50-79, 90-99
Not sure about punters and placekickers, but I think they're 1-19, 20-49.

Click to expand...

Instituted prior to the 1973 season, to be exact.

From NFL.com:

http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1971-1980A jersey numbering system was adopted, April 5:
1-19 for quarterbacks and specialists,
20-49 for running backs and defensive backs,
50-59 for centers and linebackers,
60-79 for defensive linemen and interior offensive linemen other than centers,
80-89 for wide receivers and tight ends.
Players who had been in the NFL in 1972 could continue to use old numbers.

Your listing is more update as uniform numbers in the 90s began sometime in the 1980s.